Shakespeare in Okinawa

Long a fan of HIFF (Hawaii International Film Festival), I’m happy to see a Spotlight on Okinawa for this year’s festival. Three films shot on location in Okinawa will be shown: “Gunjou (Cobalt Blue),” “Manatsu no Yo no Yume (A Midsummer’s Okinawan Dream)” and “Nada Sou Sou (Tears for You).”

While the three films featured in the Spotlight on Okinawa were filmed on location in Okinawa, the lead actors are not from Okinawa — though they’re represented in supporting roles (mainly Tomi Taira in “Manatsu no Yo no Yume” and “Nada Sou Sou,” and Mitsuru Tamaki in “Manatsu no Yo no Yume” and “Gunjou”).

The film I’m really looking forward to is “Manatsu no Yo no Yume.” The film was directed by Yuji Nakae — a name that should be familiar to Okinawa films fans — who gave us “Nabii no Koi” and “Hotel Hibiscus.”

I think it’s great that HIFF has included a Spotlight on Okinawa in addition to the films from Japan and I hope we’ll see it every year. So why not support the festival by becoming a part of the HIFF Ohana? (I’ve been a member for 10+ years.)

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2 thoughts on “Shakespeare in Okinawa”

Gunjou looks perhaps a bit too sad, too emotional for my tastes; I’ve already seen Nada sousou, but I’ve been wanting to see Midsummer Night’s Dream (Okinawa version) for some time now, and so it’s exciting that the opportunity will come to see it in a real theater as part of a film festival.